J.D. Vance, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from Ohio, is surging in the polls — within three points of another Republican candidate, Josh Mandel.
A poll conducted by Tony Fabrizio for a pro-Vance super PAC released on Thursday showed the candidate closing the one-time double-digit gap against Mandel.
The poll showed, in April, Mandel led the Republican field with 19 points ahead of his closest competitor, Vance. Since then, Mandel’s 25 percent in the primary field has gone down to 19 percent.
At the same time, Vance, who was at six percent in April, has seen a double-digit increase to 16 percent. This puts Vance within striking distance of Mandel if Vance maintains the same momentum.
Both candidates have a clear lead above the rest of the field: Mike Turner was shown with seven percent, Mike Gibbons with six percent, Jane Timken with four percent, Matt Dolan with three percent, and Bernie Moreno with one percent.
The poll also shows that Mandel’s image has declined in the state while Vance’s has improved. Mandel, who in April had a net positive of 33 points, has since declined nine points to only 24.
Meanwhile, Vance, who had a net positive of 13 points, has since grown to a net positive of 20 points.
Additionally, Vance has made a massive jump from when his name was first tested with Republican primary voters in Ohio. In April, 42 percent said they heard of Vance, while the number has since jumped to 61 percent.
The pro-Vance super PAC poll was conducted from October 17 to 18, with a sample size of 600 and a margin of error of four percentage points.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.